AT&T said Thursday that it has withdrawn its application from the Federal Communications Commission to acquire T-Mobile USA. “AT&T Inc and Deutsche Telekom AG are continuing to pursue the sale of Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. wireless assets to AT&T,” said the official statement today, as the two parties have decided to withdraw the merger application from the Commission. Deutsche Telekom, the parent of T-Mobile, and AT&T said in a joint statement that they intend to pursue the $39 billion merger and will prepare for a federal antitrust lawsuit that is seeking to block the deal.
The Justice Department together with Sprint, sued to block the transaction in August, saying a combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would eliminate one of four national U.S. wireless carriers and hamper competition.